Student life

Below are some recent testimonials about life as a PhD student at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

A former 4-year PhD student, Jennifer Yen:

I think what sets the Sanger Institute apart from many other institutions is the type of opportunities and resources
available to the PhD students. The Sanger Institute produces vast amounts of data, so there is plenty of opportunity to
be involved in the technology of data generation, or in the exploration and analysis of this data. Whatever you decide,
one thing is almost for certain: there is no shortage of funding for your project. As a student, this means that you
have a lot of creative freedom in shaping the directions of your PhD project, including choosing the methods, training
and travel you may want to pursue.

BBQ with students from the European Bioinformatics Institute.
[Markus Brosch, Sanger Institute]

In your first year, the rotation system is a great way to become familiar with the different research groups at the
Sanger Institute before making a decision about your PhD. Along with taking courses and seminars, the rotations are
fantastic training opportunities where you can strengthen or broaden your research skills and interests. You can train
in a new field, learn new techniques, and meet people from different areas. Generally, it is a good time for
exploration.

One thing that you will notice about being at the Sanger Institute, apart from the wonderful science, is that life
isn't only about the research. Staff and students enjoy a life outside the Institute. For most students, this means
living in Cambridge, being involved in College or club activities, and often taking advantage of the easy access we
have to London and to the rest of Europe. Depending on your interests then, there is always something to do! The
students here all seem quite efficient and accomplished both inside and outside the lab.

Finally, you might find that the Institute's distance from Cambridge, about a thirty minute drive, can seem hard to
begin with. There is a free bus shuttle to the Institute though, and many students get cars. Once you get used to the
commute, you will appreciate the scientific freedom that the Sanger Institute has to offer: world-class facilities,
impressive resources and an outstanding reputation in genomics research. As a Sanger student, your job will simply be
to work hard; think broad and to be creative.

A former 4-year PhD student, George Vernikos:

I joined the Sanger Institute in 2004. Before that, I was member of the Biophysics and Bioinformatics Group at the
University of Athens where I undertook my undergraduate Diploma research. It was during this period when my first
standalone software, GeneViTo became available to
academia. Prior to my registration at the University of Athens I was studying Mechatronics in the Applied Mechanics
Laboratory, at the Technical University of Crete, Greece.

During my first six months at the Sanger Institute I undertook three interesting rotation projects, two of which were
published. My rotation projects were supervised by Stephan Beck, Richard Durbin and Gavin Wright, Julian Parkhill.

At the end of the six months, I commenced my PhD research in the group of Pathogen Informatics under the supervision of
Julian Parkhill on a project focused on horizontal gene transfer and microbial genome fluidity. At the end of my first
PhD year, my second standalone software, Alien_Hunter went public.

Julian was an excellent and most importantly discreet teacher that set the basis for an overall very productive PhD
research with a submission date six months ahead of schedule.

So far I have published 12 papers (two reviews) in peer reviewed journals and a book chapter and I have been invited to
peer-review manuscripts in Bioinformatics and Nucleic Acid Research. I had the chance to supervise a PhD
student and I was a member of the Executive Committee for the first Sanger-Cambridge PhD Symposium. As a student at the
University of Cambridge I was also a Cambridge European Trust Fellow and a member of the Cambridge University Canoe
Club.

I am currently working as a senior software engineer in a private owned company, Qualco SA, located in Athens. In
addition I work as an external collaborator at the University of Athens, in the department of computer science, giving
lectures on microbial evolution for an MSc course in Bioinformatics.

Now, looking back at the Sanger PhD 4-year program I can attest that this Institute provides a unique opportunity to
learn from the elite, in an excellent and motivating environment that sets the basis for a high-standard career path.

Where next?

We have 130 PhD student alumni to date, of whom 13 hold faculty positions around the world, at least a further 78 are
working as scientists or post-doctoral researchers in academia or in industry, and 6 are working as clinicians. Our
graduates are to be found in many top research establishments such as Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, LSHTM, Imperial College
and the Gurdon Institute, and companies such as Illumina, GSK, Novartis, Syngenta and Astra Zeneca.